Standing in solidarity with Yezidi refugees after loved ones are identified in mass graves in Iraq

“Why don’t they just learn English?”

“Why don’t they go get a fruit picking job?” (Even though it’s 2 hours away from their community and infrastructure like TAFE & schools skilled in teaching English as a second language)

“They should just take on the Aussie way and integrate.” (Essentially throw away anything they’re familiar with).

When I get asked what I do these are common comments I receive in return.

I’ve learnt not to be upset by these comments as I know they come from a place of incomplete knowledge and understanding which is easy when we live in Australia protected from the horrors of war and persecution.

Pictured below are snapshots from a funeral procession of 104 men whose remains have only recently been found in mass graves after being brutally murdered by ISIS in 2014. These men were husbands, fathers, uncles and sons.

These men’s mothers, daughters, wives and aunties are here in Toowoomba watching from afar as they grapple with the grief that these images bring.

This is only one facet as to why learning English is difficult with continuing trauma stress or why a job may be difficult to manage (when you’re now a sole parent looking after 7 children in a foreign country as just one example).

These women are my neighbours, are your neighbours. If they don’t turn up for their appointment today it may be because they are frozen with anxiety. If they’re gathered in a park and you hear wailing it's because they miss their loved ones and gathering to wail together holds cultural significance.

But I guarantee for the majority of refugees in our Toowomba city they will go about their normal lives as if nothing happened (well, at least from an onlookers perspective). They’ll turn up, they’ll try their hardest to learn, they will keep looking for a job and those with a job will do it to the best of their ability - they show more resilience after severe trauma than most people I know.

Please know that there is more suffering than usual in our city on days like today. Patience, grace and love is needed for refugees.

Written by Rachael Carter, Operations Manager for You Belong